Intrathecal transplants of adrenal medullary chromaffin cells relieve chronic pain by secreting catecholamines, opioids, and other neuroactive substances. Recently, macrocapsules with semipermeable membranes were used to isolate immunologically xenogenic chromaffin cells, but the poor viability in vivo of the encapsulated chromaffin cells limited the usefulness of this method. In this study, we used a novel method of encapsulation to increase the viability of chromaffin cells. We found that microencapsulated chromaffin cells that were implanted into the subarachnoid space of rats relieved cold allodynia in a model of neuropathic pain. Furthermore, microencapsulated chromaffin cells were morphologically normal and retained their functionality. These findings suggest that the intrathecal placement of microencapsulated chromaffin cells might be a useful method for treating chronic pain.

Apoptosis plays an essential role in the elimination of mutated or transformed cells from the body. Therefore, polymorphisms of apoptosis-related genes may lead to an alteration in apoptotic capacity, thereby affecting the occurrence of TP53 mutations in lung cancer. We investigated the relationship between potentially functional polymorphisms of apoptosis-related genes and TP53 mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Twenty-seven single nucleotide polymorphisms in 20 apoptosis-related genes were genotyped by a sequenome mass spectrometry-based genotyping assay in 173 NSCLCs and the associations with TP53 mutations in the entire coding exons (exons 2-11), including splicing sites of the gene, were analyzed. None of the 27 polymorphisms was significantly associated with the occurrence of TP53 mutations. This suggests that apoptosis-related genes may not play an important role in the occurrence of TP53 mutations in lung cancer.

Intrathecal implants of adrenal medullary chromaffin cells relieve chronic pain by secreting catecholamines, opioids and other neuroactive substances. Recently, macrocapsules with hollow fibers were employed to isolate immunologically xenogeneic chromaffin cells, but the poor viability in vivo of the encapsulated chromaffin cells limited the usefulness of this method. In this study, we used microencapsulation technology to increase the viability of chromaffin cells. Bovine adrenal chromaffin cells were microencapsulated with alginate and poly-L-lysine and implanted intrathecally in a rat using the neuropathic pain model. Intrathecal implants of microencapsulated cells relieved cold allodynia, which is the most prominent symptom of the neuropathic pain model in a rat. Furthermore, the microencapsulated chromaffin cells were morphologically normal and retained their functionality. These findings suggest that the intrathecal implant of microencapsulated chromaffin cells might be a useful method for treating chronic pain.

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